Nets 54
Blazers 53

Already being referred to as Game of the Year by many around the league, Sunday’s early matchup provided a showdown between two of the five teams fighting for the three remaining playoff spots (Grizzlies & Warriors having already clinched theirs). The game was back and forth, and filled with big scoring runs by both teams. At one point in the first half, the Blazers opened up a 33-24 lead. However, Scott Witkowski, who may be the frontrunner in MVP voting at the moment, would lead a ferocious effort to end the first half that would also carry into the second half. The 9-0 run would culminate in a Joe Platas three-pointer to tie the game at 33.

The game then mostly stayed even for awhile until Ryan Spencer stepped onto the court. With the Nets down 40-39, the general manager seemingly provided the extra spark the Brooklyn needed, making a diving save to stop Witkowski’s baseball pass from going out of bounds. Spencer would deliver the save directly to Bam for an easy layup, and a 41-40 Brooklyn lead. Just minutes later, Spencer would jump in front of an Ozzie Jiminez pass to tip the ball directly to Joe Platas. Platas would then loft the ball up to Spencer for the fastbreak layup. The momentum would carry the Nets to a 48-40 lead.

It appeared the Nets may be cruising to a victory from there, until Portland suddenly woke up. Thanks to Portland’s renewed sense of urgency, as well as some poor free throw shooting by the Nets (Brooklyn would finish 3-for-16 on the day from the charity strike), the score ended up being tied at 50 with under 2 minutes to go. This is where Vinny Fittipaldi decided it would be his turn to step up. On back-to-back possessions, Vinny would be the man to put the ball in the basket, first off his own offensive rebound, and then on a sneaky backdoor cut taking advantage of a Portland defensive collapse. In the final second of the game, Ham Long would have one final chance to keep Portland alive, but unfortunately the GM’s free throw attempt would ring in-and-out. Most analysts say that, if the same shot were performed on an indoor hoop, it would have gone in. However, that has been the story of the Blazers’ season so far, experiencing yet another heartbreaking defeat in the final minute of the game. The Nets, on the other hand, move to 2-2, now in the driver’s seat of the five-team race for the remaining playoff spots.

Warriors 69
Lakers 50

As entertaining as the first game was, the late game of the double header was quite the opposite. Although the Lakers opened up with an 8-0 lead with Warriors point guard Rob Burns taking a break on the bench, the excitement was short-lived. Warriors would quickly eliminate the deficit and establish a comfortable lead of their own for the rest of the night. The Lakers, who have been fighting injury issues more than any other team this season, were outrebounded by a whopping 56-24. The departures of Scott Scala & John Mollica, the two biggest guys on the Lakers roster likely plays a factor here. However, there were some bright spots for the Lakers, specifically rookie Bill McKernan returning from an injury he has been nursing most of the season to record a season high 11 points.

On the Warriors’ side of the ball, it was a career night for franchise center Quentin Middleton, who would record a career high 24 points against his former team from the 2020 season. The even more impressive part is that, despite the Lakers’ lack of size, Middleton would actually do the majority of his scoring damage around the perimeter, knocking down 4 three-pointers. “His game has really developed since his rookie season in 2017,” commented BGBL analyst Casey McClure.

Golden State did experience a real scare in the second half when Rob Burns would go flopping to the ground on a non-contact injury. Luckily, Andrew Owers, who has since been promoted to BGBL Chief Medical Officer, was able to snap Burns’s knee back into place without having to call the ambulance, like some unnamed idiot recommended. With his team up by 20 points, Burns would intelligently take a seat on the bench for the remainder of the contest, where he continued to be the most vocal player in the game. Golden State, who already has Brandon Stevens out for potentially the remainder of the season, will hope to stay healthy if they want to complete the highly coveted back-to-back championship run.